Basement warmer and booster fan combination



B. R. ALLEN April 22, 1958 BASEMENT WARMER AND BOOSTER FAN COMBINATION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 5, 1957 Fig./

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BY 48 4 W B. R. ALLEN 2,831,636

BASEMENT WARMER AND BOOSTER FAN COMBINATION Burris R. Allen, St. Louis Park, Minn. Application March 5, 1957, Serial No. 644,094 5 Claims. (Cl. 236-) This invention relates, generally speaking, to hot air furnaces but pertains, more specifically, to motor operated fans, singly and collectively, which are expressly adapted to be used, either directly or indirectly, in conjunction with the customary plenum such as is used atop the body or casing of a gravity-type hot air furnace.

The concept, somewhat more particularly classified, involves a combination of two or more motor driven fans one of which is an automatic temperature responsive booster fan and the other one, or ones, constitutes an additional companion but non-automatic fan. These are electrically connected in such a way that the primary fan, which is automatic, serves as the master fan, and the othernon-automatic fan is auxiliary but complemental thereto, the construction and arrangement being such that the fans, being self-contained and ready-to-install may be utilized in a number of different ways in conjunction with hot air pipes or ducts and also with a basement warmer attachment all as will be clarified as the many aspects of the invention are revealed.

The nature of the present invention will be more easily comprehended, it is submitted, by making reference to Patent No. 2,782,991, issued to me on February 26, 1957. This stated patent relates to a thermostatically controlled fan which is primarily set forth as a plenum attachment for a gravity type hot air furnace. The fan is a so-called booster fan type used primarily as a basement warmer. Stated otherwise, it comprises a fan which does not go on unless the furnace is on and responds to plenum temperatures from 80 F. to 120 F. according to a selected setting when the furnace is on. It is characterized by an arcuate or arched plate which is adapted to be attached to and cover an opening provided therefor in a short length of pipe which serves as a housing therefor, the pipe being open at its inner and outer ends. An electric motor is mounted on the interior surface of the plate and has a driven shaft carrying an air circulating fan. There is an automatic control unit provided with a current supply conductor cord which, in turn, is provided with a plug which is adapted to be connected with an ordinary receptacle. This control unit is affixed to the exterior surface of the plate and embodies a casing having a readily applicable and removable cover, a switch mounted in the casing andhaving current conducting wiring leading from the switch to the motor. There is a thermal element responsive to a selected maximum and minimum plenum temperature, an operating connection between the thermal element and switch, whereby the latter-is closed and the motor fan comes on when a predetermined temperature exists. The structure also includes a manually regulable means for selecting and setting the thermal element and a mechanical operating connection between the means and thermal element. The plate has an opening therein and the thermal element projects through the opening into the interior of the short pipe and in close proximity to the motor driven fan. Means is provided for adjusting and setting the thermal element United States Patent 0 so that it will respond when a predetermined temperature exists in the passage whereby the thermal element closes the switch and the fan comes on.

After the fan is installed one can 'simply plug in the current conducting cord using regular house current, set the automatic control unit for the most efficient temperature operation and the device will work automatically, spring, fall and winter. It serves to force warm air in hard-to-heat areas and will not operate if the furnace is not on, or if the temperature of the air in the duct is below the automatic setting for the fan. It will function efficiently to circulate heat, warm hard-to-heat rooms, will heat the basement room and will function quietly and efficiently and will thus prove economical. No wiring is required. The unit is sold complete with an 8-foot cord so that it is necessary to do no more than plug into the house current. The control unit is permanently mounted on the arched plate and is covered by a readily removable applicable housing or cover. This permits one to reach inside and make the desired temperature adjustment. In actual practice its use and operation is highly practical and desirable.

In carrying out the instant improvements, a power take-off receptacle is installed or built-in to that end of the control unit opposite to the end to which the plugequipped cord is attached. This simple addition makes it possible to employ additional or auxiliary non-automatic booster fans in close by room ducts to assist in forcing warm air into rooms other than the main area. By attaching the plug to the added receptacle on the control unit automatic operation is obtained. Therefore,

and instead of utilizing a plurality of booster fans each of which is equipped with a control unit like that on the master fan, simple or secondary or auxiliary fans without such units are susceptible of adoption and use. All of the fans are in the do-it-yourself category so that heat and increased comfort may be had without an increase in fuel consumption and without having to buy a plurality of otherwise expensive equipment to do the job and without having to retain an electrician for special wiring requirements.

Briefly summarized, the over-all and improved concept comprises a self-contained ready-to-install automatic master blower fan comprising an adapter plate designed to be attached to and cover an installation opening cut therefor in a hot air duct, an electric motor fixedly mounted on the interior surface of said plate and having a driven shaft carrying an air circulating fan, a selfcontained temperature responsive manually regulable automatic control unit having electrical operating connection with said motor, said control unit being accessibly afiixed to the exterior surface of said plate, a conventional current supply and conducting cord operatively connected at one end to said control unit and provided. at its opposite end with a plug adapted to be connected to any available home-type receptacle, a power takeoff receptacle operatively and accessibly built into said control unit so that the latter has the added function of delivering an available supply of current when and where needed, a thermal element responsive to selected maximum and minimum duct temperatures, an operating connection between said thermal element and control unit so that said motor driven fan comes on when a predetermined temperature exists in said duct, said plate having a prepared hole therein, said thermal element being at right angles to said plate and projecting through: said hole into the passageway of said duct and being situated in close proximity to said fan, and a remote controlled auxiliary self-contained ready-to-install but non-automatic fan complemental to said master fan and adapted to be operatively mounted on a second duct,

a hot air pipe for example, independent of said firstnamed duct and likewise comprising an adapter plate adapted to be attached to the second duct in a manner to cover an opening provided therefor in said second duct, an electric motor mounted on the interior surface of said last-named plate and having a driven shaft carrying an air circulating fan operating in unison with said first-named fan, a second conventional-type current conducting cord electrically connected at one end with said last-named motor and provided at its other end with a standard plug removably connected with the aforementioned power take-off receptacle on said control unit.

The invention is also possessed of many other structural features and advantages which will become more clearly apparent as the reader examines the specification and claims in the light of the drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing the upper portion of a gravity-type hot air furnace, showing the plenum, two hot air ducts, the automatic booster fan mounted for operation on the duct at the right and the companion but auxiliary booster fan (without the automatic control) mounted or installed for use on the duct at the left;

Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged cross-sections on the lines 2-2 and 33 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the wiring diagram;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view on a slightly smaller scale showing the complete furnace, plenum, ducts and with the automatic booster fan installed in a main duct, and the auxiliary fan serving as an exhaust fan and installed in a short length of pipe from the plenum constituting the aforementioned basement warmer; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged exploded perspective view showing the essence of the invention; namely, the master fan at the left and the auxiliary so-called non-automatic companion fan at the right.

Taking up now the description of the invention in greater detail, reference is had first to Fig. 6 wherein it will be seen that for simplification of presentation but two fans are shown. In practice there may be one master fan and several auxiliary fans. The present disclosure will sufiice to cover this over-all picture, so to speak. To this end the numeral 8 at the left denotes the primary or master automatic booster fan while the numeral 10 denotes the auxiliary so-called non-automatic booster fan. Briefly, the fan 8 comprises the aforementioned arched or arcuate plate 12 having hanger brackets 14 on its underneath or interior side, said brackets 14 serving to support a suitable miniature electric motor 16 the shaft 18 ofwhich operates a simple air circulating blade or fan 21 The numerals 22 designate lubricating means. The temperature responsive control unit is denoted at 24 and has a removable cover or housing 26. This is a permanent part of the over-all master fan 8. The numeral 28 designates a latch for the cover. This control unit is connected by appropriate wires 30 with the motor. The numeral 32 designates a thermal element which projects below the bottom surface of the plate 12. In fact, this plate 12 is provided with a hole (not shown) to permit this thermal element to occupy its desired place. Since this is the same type of a fan which is disclosed in greater detail in my prior Patent No. 2,782,991 it is thought to be unnec: essary to dwell on the details and is sufficient to designate the over-all fan as an automatic booster fan. The current conducting cord 34 is connected with the mechanism in the control unit at one end of the unit and the other end of the cord is provided with a conventional plug 36 connected, in turn, with a standard receptacle 38. One improvement in the instant disclosure is the built-in extra power take-01f receptacle 40 carried by the end of the control unit 24 in the manner shown. Here again it is believed to be unnecessary to detail the precise mode of mounting this receptacle 40.

The companion non-automatic fan 10 also comprises an arcuate saddle or adapter plate 42 having hanger brackets 44 on its interior or underside supporting the electric motor 46 which drives the fan 48. In this arrangement the electric current conducting or supply cord is denoted at 48 and has one end operatively connected at 50 to the plate and to the motor by way of the connecting wires 52. The lubricating tubes are denoted at 55. There is a plug 54 connected with the opposite end of the cord 48 having prongs which are, in turn, connected with the power take-off receptacle 40.

One method of using the fans is shown in Fig. 1 wherein the gravity-type hot air furnace casing or body is denoted by the numeral 56 and the plenum at 58. There is a hot air duct 60 at the right and by cutting a hole therein the saddle plate may be bolted in place to thus install the automatic booster fan 8. The duct or hot air pipe 62 at the left has the auxiliary non-automatic fan 10 mounted thereon by way of the saddle plate and by forming a cut-out or opening in the duct and bolting the plate in place in the manner shown. 7

The installation in Fig. 5 is similar but sufliciently different to be referred to generally. Here the furnace is denoted at 64, the plenum at 66 and the up-draft hot air pipes by the numerals 68, 70 and 72. The automatic booster fan 8 is installed in an obvious manner in the warm air run 72 from the top or plenum of the furnace. The numeral 74 designates a short length of pipe mounted at its inner end in the plenum and constituting a basement warmer. This is the same in construction as that shown in the aforementioned Patent No. 2,782,991. Therefore, it does not have to be in detail. It is snfficient to say that here the auxiliary booster fan It) is incorporated in this pipe. Reference may also be made to the wiring diagram seen in Fig. 4 to further understand the nature and scope of the improvements herein revealed.

It is believed that a careful consideration of the specification, the objectives set forth therein and a comparison of the disclosure with the aforementioned prior patent will enable one to fully understand not only the invention itself but ways of installing and using the same. In these circumstances, a more lengthy description is thought to be unnecessary.

Changes in shape, size, materials, and rearrangement of parts may be resorted to in actual practice without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In combination, a self-contained ready-to-install automatic master blower fan comprising an adapter plate designed to be attached to and cover an installation opening cut therefor in a hot air duct, an electric motor fixedly mounted on the interior surface of said plate and having a driven shaft carrying an air circulating fan, a self-contained temperature responsive manually regulable automatic control unit having electrical operating connection with said motor, said control unit being accessibly affixed to the exterior surface of said plate, a conventional current supply and conducting cord operatively connected at one end to said control unit and provided at its opposite end with a plug adapted to be connected to any available home-type receptacle, a power take-off receptacle operatively and accessibly built into said control unit and electrically connected across said fan motor so that the control unit has the added function of delivering an available supply of current when said fan motor is energized, a thermal element responsive to selected maximum and minimum duct temperatures, an operating connection between said thermal element and control unit so that said motor driven fan comes on when a predetermined temperature exists in said duct, said plate having a prepared hole therein, said thermal element being at right angles to said plate and projecting through saidhole into the passageway of said duct and being situated in close proximity to said fan, and a remote controlled auxiliary self contained ready-to-install but non-automatic fan complemental to said master fan and adapted to be operatively mounted on a second duct, a hot air pipe for example, independent of said first named duct and likewise comprising an adapter plate adapted to be attached to the second duct in a manner to cover an opening provided therefor in said second duct, an electric motor mounted on the interior surface of said last named plate and having a driven shaft carrying an air circulating fan operating in unison with said first named fan, a second conventionaltype current conducting cord electrically connected at one end with said last-named motor and provided at its other end with a standard plug removably connected with the aforementioned power take-off receptacle to receive its power therefrom when the master fan motor is energized.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 and wherein said second-named duct comprises a relatively short pipe the passage of which is constantly open from its inner end to its outer end, the inner end of said pipe being adapted to be communicatively connected to a wall of the plenum of a gravity-type hot air furnace, whereby to thus serve, in conjunction with said second fan, as a basement warmer attachment for said furnace.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 and wherein said first-named duct comprises a so-called warm air run communicatively connected with the top wall of a plenum of a gravity type furnace.

4. In combination, a self-contained ready-to-install automatic master blower fan comprising an adapter plate designed to be attached to and cover an installation opening cut therefor in a hot air duct, an electric motor fixedly mounted on the interior surface of said plate and having a driven shaft carrying an air circulating fan, a self-contained temperature responsive manually regulable'automatic control unit having electrical operating connection with said motor, said control unit being accessibly affixed to the exterior surface of said plate, a conventional current supply and conducting cord operatively connected at one end to said control unit and provided at its opposite end with a plug adapted to be connected to any available home-type receptacle, a power take-off receptacle operatively and accessibly built into said control unit and electrically connected across said fan motor so that the control unit has the added function of delivering an available supply of current when said fan motor is energized, a thermal element responsive to selected maximum and minimum duct temperatures, an operating connection between said thermal element and control unit so that said motor driven fan comes on when a predetermined temperature exists in said duct, said plate having a prepared hole therein, said thermal element being at right angles to said plate and projecting through said hole into the passageway of said duct and being situated in close proximity to said fan.

5. In combination, a gravity-type hot air furnace embodying a casing having a heated air accumulating plenum at its top, at least one hot air pipe communicatively connected with a top wall of said plenum, an automatic master booster fan located in the passage of said pipe, a fan motor also located in said passage, said motor having a shaft and said fan being mounted for operation on said shaft, a self-contained automatic control unit accessibly mounted on and disposed exteriorly of said pipe, said unit embodying a casing having a readily removable cover, current conducting wiring leading from the unit to said motor, a plug-equipped current supply cord operatively connected with said unit, a thermal element responsive to selected maximum and minimum plenum temperatures operatively connected to said control unit which, when a predetermined temperature exists in said passage, automatically brings the fan into play, said thermal element extending into said passage in close proximity to the fan and motor, said pipe having a hole in one side, a cover plate for said hole, said thermal element, and fan-equipped motor being grouped together and compactly mounted, as an assembly, on said plate, the latter providing a common base for said assembly and also covering said opening and being removably fastened on said pipe whereby said fan-equipped motor, supply cord, thermal element and plate constitute a readily applicable and removable attachment-type self-contained temperature controlled fan unit, a basement warmer comprising a length of short pipe communicatively connected with said plenum, said short pipe being constantly open from its inner to its outer end, an exhaust type motor driven blower fan located in the passage of said last-named pipe, a current conducting cord connected to said motordriven fan at one end and having a pronged plug on its other end, said control unit having an accessible built-in power take-off receptacle electrically connected across said fan motor, and said last-named plug being operatively connected to said receptacle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

